Saturday, October 31, 2009

Midnight Post

If you are questioning what I am doing up, close to midnight on Saturday night, posting on my blog, I will tell you. It is because I, with about 75 000 others around the world are ready to start our quest to write a 50 000 word novel in one month. Starting exactly at midnight on November first, it is time for another crazy month of mad typing around the world. Who knows how many will make it to the end? However, everybody knows that even less make it to publishing, but it doesn’t matter, it is not the most important goal for many of us. According to the website, there are some who has been published and added on to the world’s every increasing list of books.
Posts may be fewer this month, as I’m busy typing my own novel instead of reading others.
Josefine

My recommendations: Monitor my progress on my page


Update, apperantly we passed the 100 000 mark of NaNoWriMo members a couple of days ago.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Around the world: Venice

Here comes a new section with books that reveals part of the world that you won’t find in ordinary guidebooks.


Heading out first is The City of Fallen Angels, which is about Venice. An ordinary touristy city with its famous picture perfect tourist attractions, but as I found out in the book there is so much more to the city.
The city with its many canals filled with deep intrigues and mysteries. There is something with Venice and when you get to follow John Berendt and his experiences around the city after the great fire on Gran Teatro La Fenice you see some of its splendor. The book shows a different Venice, an ordinary city, except for that shine that always seems to shine over Venice and gives it its mystique.
When I finished the book, I immediately decided to revisit the city again and this time I would make sure to look past the old facades and the somewhat intruding touristy parts. Hopefully I will see some of the true magic of Venice and if I look carefully I might even be able to see the fallen angels. Josefine

My recommendations: Villa Serena, falling in love Italian style by Domenica de Rosa

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Tolerant or Picky?

I read on a forum a couple of days ago about a guy claiming that about every third book or author he picked up, he didn’t enjoy. I must disagree with him. There are usually very few authors and books I don’t enjoy. Then I started thinking. Am I just a more tolerant reader who will ready anything for the joy of reading or am I not picky enough with my reading and expect very little from the books I read? I like to see myself as tolerant a more positive spin on the issue. What kind of reader do you consider yourself? Tolerant or Picky?
Josefine

My recommendations: April in Paris by Michael Wallner.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

1001 revisited

As some of you might know, my new years resolution this year, was to try to include at least one book from each chapter (century) from my 1001 books you must read before you die (the Swedish version). Well past the six-month mark I have to say that it hasn’t gone as good as I anticipated. So far I have managed to read two books from the 20th century, both by Russian authors (Bulgakov: Master and Margarita and Pasternak: Doctor Zhivago) and that’s it. In the near future I hope to read some of the Russian writers of the 19th century, hopefully before the end of this year. But we’ll see how it goes.
Josefine

My recommendations: A passage to India by EM Forester

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Book People arrived

I just collected my books from my latest The book people order and I am ecstatic. Not only did I score the first Christmas present of the year, a princess collection for a friend’s daughter but I also bought a collection of Roald Dahl books for dirt-cheap and an assortment of 10 novels for £5. Too good to be true, even if they turn out to be rubbish, for 50p each I can afford to finish them and never look at them again.
This company probably has the best deals I have ever encountered when it comes to books and the best part is that they come to my work and all I have to do is fill in my order and they will return the books to me.
Josefine

My recommendations: Go online and see if The Book People will deliver to your work as well